Starfleet as previously intended. Wolfe said that "Of Wesley, Jake, Alexander, and Nog, wouldn't it be funny if Nog were the one to end up as a Starfleet captain?". Ronald D. Moore agreed with the new character direction, saying that "Somehow, Captain Nog sounds cool". Nog's progression through Starfleet was followed in later episodes, with the character promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade by the time of the series finale, "What You Leave Behind". Odo's unrequited love for Kira had been hinted at throughout season three building up to the reveal in "Heart of Stone", which would be a repeating plot device up until the final episode of the series when Odo departs the crew. Reception "Heart of Stone" was first broadcast on February 6, 1995, in broadcast syndication. It received Nielsen ratings of 8.3 million. This placed it in fourth place in the timeslot. This was an increase from the episode aired the previous week, as "Life Support" gained a rating of 8.2 million. It was the fourth most viewed episode of the season on first broadcast after "The Search", "Defiant" and "Meridian". Several reviewers re-watched the episode after the end of the series. Zack Handlen reviewed the episode for The A.V. Club in October 2012. He had reservations about the episode up until the twist involving the Founder, and thought that Visitor's performance as Kira had been slightly off all episode. He thought that having Kira admit her feelings for Odo was rushed and was disappointed by it and felt it ruined what he had considered to be one of the best episodes of the season. He was pleased that Odo was as suspicious as he was, and the twist was made all the more striking by the performances. He felt that the Nog/Sisko story was just as good, having felt that Nog had been "off-putting" previously but the performance by Eisenberg in "Heart of Stone" was "amazing". He particularly praised Nog's monologue explaining his motives to join Starfleet, and said it was "terrific" as it was "exciting because it's unexpected". Jamahl Epsicokhan of Jammer's Reviews, felt that the main Odo/Kira plot was "contrived" in that the female Founder stole a Maquis ship and set up the entire situation simply to attempt to convince Odo to return to his people. He said that the Nog and Sisko plot was "lightweight but amiable", and he gave the